


the courage of stars

by crystalldragon



Series: Genyatta Week 2017 [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Camping, Fluff, Genyatta Week, Love Confessions, M/M, Stargazing, more like starGAYing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 09:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11377236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalldragon/pseuds/crystalldragon
Summary: Genji and Zenyatta take their very first trip together after spending months in the monastery.Written for Genyatta Week Summer 2017, Day 5 “Camping” + Day 6 “Intimacy”.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i was too busy to upload this on time but better late than never  
> (title and quote taken from saturn/venus by sleeping at last. go check them out if you can, they're wonderful)

“At first I thought you were a constellation.  
I made a map of your stars, then I had a revelation:  
You're as beautiful as endless,  
You're the universe I'm helpless in.”

"We're there," Zenyatta says as they reach a clearing at the end of the pathway. They've been travelling for the past few days, and Genji isn't even sure if they are in Nepal anymore. 

"Ah, really now?" Genji responses in a sarcastic tone.

Zenyatta laughs and pats his shoulder. "I'm sorry, again, but otherwise this wouldn't be special, right? Also, we took more than enough breaks."

"I know. I appreciate you looking out for me, Zenyatta.”

"That's what I am here for," Zenyatta says, moving to the fireplace in the centre of the place.

Genji follows him, smirking, enjoying the casual banter. "Pretty sure that this isn't the only thing where you're valuable."

Zenyatta sits down before the fireplace and hums. "You’re right. I am a being with many strenghts and skills, and just as many flaws. Just like you, and everyone else. One just needs to recognize them."

Genji laughs and sits down beside him. "You're trying to teach me a lesson again?"

"Of course I am. I am your teacher, after all,” he says, laughing as well.

Genji's heart constricts again at that reminder, even if Zenyatta is just teasing him. They are good friends, and he has learned so much that Zenyatta even told him that he should quit calling him master. But still, his feelings towards him are inappropriate. 

Both take a moment to appreciate the scenery around them. They are still in mountainous region, though in a way more vivid area. The hills around them are covered in flowers and grass instead of snow, and in the distance, they can even see some villages and a nearby forest.

"This is one of the places where I rested the first time I _really_ went out the monastery. Mondatta had disapproved of my excursions even back then. I wandered for days, and then found this place. I found it so outstanding that I noted it down. And now, I took the same route, with you by my side. It feels wonderful to be here again."

Genji smiles and, again, he has the urge to move a bit closer to Zenyatta, lean against him while he tells him stories. 

Before he can think further about that though, Zenyatta changes the subject. "Genji, would you mind helping me gathering woods to make a campfire?"

He gazes at the omnic and nods in response.

Zenyatta gets up and clasps his hands together, "Wonderful! Sitting together at a campfire is always a pleasant activity."

 _Not when you have something weighing on you, like having a big dumb crush on your best friend and master_ , Genji thinks but follows him nonetheless.

 

For hours they strolled through the nearby forest, doing everything and nothing, from building a tent out of tree branches to playing hide and seek in the thickets. Genji felt like a child playing with his favorite person in the world. Every laugh that came out of Zenyatta made him feel more like he's on cloud nine. 

 

Eventually, it starts to rain and they take a breather in their self-made tent, sheltered by the thick leaves of the trees above them.

"Genji, we totally forgot about the campfire," Zenyatta gasps, interrupting the story he was telling.

“But we’ve collected some tree branches here," Genji says, gesturing around them.

"You mean our little shelter? I'd rather not destroy it. You've made it so nicely."

“Thanks, I guess?" He responses, laughing.

He stands up and walks to a pile of branches laying on the florest floor not far away from them. "Let's just use these," he shouts in Zenyatta's direction, picking up as many as he can.

"Let me help you," comes Zenyatta's voice from behind him. He takes the remaining branches and follows him back to the fireplace.

 

Another hour passes until they finally get the campfire set up. The sun had already set below the mountains, and the two sat beside each other, enjoying the crackling of the fire. 

Zenyatta rummages through the backpack they had taken with them, and takes out a deep red blanket. He moves closer to drape it over the both of them and says, "I don't want you to freeze to death here," chuckling slightly.

Genji's breath had stopped throughout this, and he looks at Zenyatta like he just did something forbidden. 

 

In quiet moments like these, he is reminded of the way he yearns for Zenyatta. _But what do I want, exactly?_ Genji asks himself. He already has his friendship, his respect. But it always feels like there's something missing. Like one last puzzle piece, and he doesn't know what it is. When he thinks about it, he longs for Zenyatta's touch. But not like the way he used to long for a lover's touch. Not in a sexual way. He dreams of gentle touches and comforting words. He wants to have Zenyatta as a constant presence by his side. He wants to be the one who shares all his laughters, as well as his sad moments. He wants to make him feel adored and safe, just like Zenyatta makes him feel. _Maybe this is what real love feels like?_ Genji allows himself to ponder on that question for once.

Remembering that he hasn't said anything in a while, he looks back at Zenyatta. But before he can think of anything to say in the tumult of his mind, Zenyatta speaks again. 

He points his finger to the sky and whispers, voice full of wonder, "Genji, quickly, look!"

He moves his head up, to catch sight of a shooting star, creating a beautiful streak of light into the night sky. 

"You have to make a wish!" Zenyatta says, shortly looking at him, before looking up again and clasping his hands together.

Genji's mind races. _Is he really doing this right now? What would someone like him even wish for? Surely he must be happy with everything as it is?_   
In his train of thought he totally forgot Zenyatta's words. _Oh, I have to make a wish too. Uh... Is it wrong to wish to have Zenyatta by my side for the rest of my life?_

The shooting star slowly disappears into the night sky again and Zenyatta sighs happily.

"It is just wonderful out here. Once again, I am glad that you are with me on this journey, Genji."

Genji flushes bright red, fortunately half hidden in the dark, and simply answers, "I am grateful to be here, Zenyatta."

He lays down and admires the stars above them, thinking about untold stories of his childhood. Zenyatta follows him shortly afterwards, laying down beside him.

"Did you know that I loved stargazing as a kid?" Genji starts.

"Oh?" Zenyatta answers and looks at him in interest.

He faces Zenyatta as well and chuckles. "It was an interest of mine. Of course, my brother found it 'boring and useless'. Which didn't stop me from enjoying it, as you would have guessed. I just loved to explore the world and its secrets," he continues. 

Zenyatta hums fondly. "Your great interest in the world is something I always admired about you. Not many people in the world have that, much less adults."

Genji blush deepens at that, and he almost believes that Zenyatta flirts with him, but his brain reminds him once again: _He's like that to everyone. He often compliments other people._

Suppressing these thoughts, he continues again, "I was also interested in constellations and other stuff like that. I did convince one of my butlers to buy a telescope for me by asking for it day and night. It turned out to be a little... frustrating for me though, because I had no one to talk to about it. But maybe you want to listen?" he asks.

"Of course," Zenyatta responds, the fondness still clear in his voice.

 

And so, they spend the whole night talking about constellations, auroras, and other phenomena. For hours, the stars twinkle above them and they end up falling asleep, tangled together under the soft blanket.


	2. Chapter 2

“I was a billion little pieces  
´til you pulled me into focus.  
Astronomy in reverse,  
It was me who was discovered.”

Genji awakes feeling a lightness he hasn’t felt in a long time. He opens his eyes, remembering the events of last night, and sees that he's wrapped in a blanket and Zenyatta is still laying next to him. 

“Hello, Genji,” he hears the omnic say.

He's sure that this is the first he slept together with Zenyatta in calmness, instead of crying himself to sleep and needing comfort, and it makes him want to wake up like this every day for the rest of his life.

"Hey," he answers. 

Zenyatta gets up and folds the blanket up again.

"Are you hungry? Do you need something to drink?" He asks Genji.

Genji shakes his head. He must be looking like an idiot right now, with the way he's smiling at Zenyatta as if he just offered him the world.

Their trip together has made him feel a happiness he hasn't felt in a long time, but it also makes him even more confused about his feelings.

"I think I'm going for a little walk. There's a place down below with a beautiful view of the sunrise. Would you like to accompany me, Genji?" Zenyatta asks.

"Of course," he answers, getting up and adjusting his armor.

 

 

They walk along the pathway for some time until they finally reach the place Zenyatta was talking about. Zenyatta sits down leaned against a tree. He pats the space before him and Genji sits down, leaning his head against Zenyatta’s chest. They’ve often watched the sunrise and sunset at the monastery like this. But as Zenyatta promised, they get an even more breathtaking view of the sun rising behind the mountains from here. The sun dips everything in a soft yellow glow and the quiet chirping of all the insects waking up around them perfectly mingles with the scenery. 

 

Zenyatta breaks the silence to say “this is beautiful.”

 

Of course, he is correct. It’s so easy to describe the view with a word like this. Easier than to describe the feelings Genji is feeling. He turns around in Zenyatta’s arms. Now, as he sees the soft glow of the sun illuminating his faceplate, hears that pleased hum he always makes when seeing Genji without his mask on, and, at last, feels metallic fingers slowly stroking his face, all of his feelings for Zenyatta hit him at once like a train. It surges through his whole body, making it hard to think about anything else, to say anything else than the ultimate truth he needed to get out now.

 

“I love you.”

It sounds so weak. So vulnerable. Like he’s taking out his broken, disfigured heart, laid out right before Zenyatta. Who is taking every single piece of it into his own hands, carefully patching it together with one simple sentence.

“I have always loved you, Genji.”

And it feels like his entire world is realigning. Like all the misery, all the days he spent fighting, every loss he’s made, were all worth it, because they led him up to Zenyatta. To this moment. His vision blurs with the beginning of tears. All he can do is fling himself into Zenyatta’s open arms, embracing him. He starts crying into his chest, just like he did so many times before. But this time, instead of crying tears of sadness, he’s crying tears of happiness, of relief. 

“Genji…” he hears Zenyatta’s soft voice from above, accompanied by a hint of worry.

Genji shakes his head slightly, unable to form any words. He presses himself closer to Zenyatta as response.

Zenyatta lets out a sigh and moves his hand up to run it through his hair. “You are a magnificent being, Genji. In soul, as in body. I love and admire all of you with all that I am. Do not ever doubt that.”

“Thank you,” is all that comes out of him, his arms tightening around the monk. He wants to say more, to express his gratitude for all the things he's done for him in detail, but he doesn't find the right words to convey his feelings, so he remains silent.

Minutes pass between them, Zenyatta stroking his head and whispering soft words to Genji to calm him down. The humming of his core lulls him once again, though this time louder and rapider, conveying Zenyatta’s own feelings. He opens his eyes and slowly moves up to face him.

Zenyatta tilts his head and moves both his hands to wipe the wetness of his cheeks. He slightly giggles at the intimate gesture, now so different from before. He can freely enjoy every of Zenyatta’s touches, without the weight of any unsaid feelings hanging over him. Before he can stop himself, his thoughts come out of his mouth again. 

“I want to kiss you.”

Zenyatta chuckles and moves his face downward, trying to hide his now brightly flaring blue dots. 

"Please do," he answers, and with that Genji hears a tone of voice he’s never heard before from him. It sounds soft, but mixed with bashfulness and a hint of something else. Genji is sure he has never felt such anticipation as now.

 

"You're so cute when you're blushing, Zenyatta," he says, smirking. The omnic moves his face up again, looking into Genji's deep brown eyes and seeing the glint of adoration and love in them. Both simultaneously move their faces closer to each other, like they're magnetically drawn to each other, until they are only mere inches apart from each other. Slowly, Genji presses his lips against where Zenyatta's mouthpiece and faceplate meet. He was never quite sure how he would kiss Zenyatta if he could, how he could kiss an _unresponsive_ face.

As Zenyatta slowly moves his hand to the back of his neck, and the other up to comb through his hair, sighing and murmuring his name, he quickly finds out that it doesn't matter so much. The sounds and touches only urge him on, so he moves his lips more firmly against him, pressing kisses all over his faceplate. Eventually, he has to get up for air and moves his lips away. He opens his eyes, not even remembering that he had closed them, and looks at Zenyatta again.

"Genji..." Zenyatta whispers, and now Genji can hear a faint breathlessness sipping into his voice, as well as the rapidly humming of his core.

Genji starts spilling even more truths. "I have spent so many nights... dreaming of this. Awake, and aching for you," he says, his voice growing hoarse as well. "I didn't know what to do... I didn't know what to make of these feelings. I thought it was wrong. But as I realized that what I felt was love... I couldn't deny it anymore. But I didn't want to burden you with this..."

Zenyatta strokes his cheek again. "Do not apologize for your feelings. They will never be a burden." He moves to put their foreheads together, gently sighing. 

Genji closes his eyes again. "Thank you for everything," he says softly, repeating his former words.

Zenyatta hums. "You don't need to thank me. You have given me something invaluable with your love. I love you, Genji Shimada." 

Genji smiles and nods in response. For the first time in his life, everything is coming together, and he feels like he is finally _home_.

**Author's Note:**

> ...was this intimate enough?
> 
> anyway, thank you for reading! I am glad I could partake in this Genyatta week and all the other works I've seen/read so far were all awesome! c: *community high fives u all*


End file.
